Crime

Aldi customer won't be charged in shooting

Nazir Al-Mujaahid, from Milwaukee, the customer who shot a suspect during an armed robbery at an Aldi grocery store Monday night speaks to the media describing the ordeal, Friday.

The Aldi customer who shot an armed robber in the store Monday won't face any criminal charges, prosecutors confirmed Friday.

Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm said the law allows use of reasonable force in threatening situations, regardless of whether the shooter has a concealed-weapons permit, which the customer did.

"He disrupted an act that potentially exposed himself and others to great bodily harm," Chisholm said. Video footage from the store showed "he acted reasonably and in a controlled manner during the encounter," Chisholm said.

It was a best-case scenario for gun-rights advocates who say such incidents will dissuade criminals from using guns. Critics of Wisconsin's new concealed carry law, however, say things could have easily gone worse.

"Obviously, we're glad things turned out the way they did," said Jeri Bonavia, of the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort. "But we believe a robbery is bad enough and that adding this grocery store shoot'em-up just increases the risk there will be a bad outcome."

The customer, Nazir Al-Mujaahid, 35, of Milwaukee, called the incident nothing to brag about, but that "sometimes you have to do what you have to do."

A dinner stop

At a news conference Friday, Al-Mujaahid said he and his wife stopped at the store, 7601 W. Fond du Lac Ave., for some last-minute dinner items. They'd never shopped there before, he said.

As they were in line to check out, he noticed the suspect pointing a shotgun at a cashier, demanding money in a very agitated way. He said he feared for the safety of himself and others so he unholstered his semiautomatic 9mm Steyr handgun, cocked it and kept it down at his side as he motioned another customer behind the robber to move away.

"It was surreal," he said.

When the robber turned the shotgun toward him, Al-Mujaahid said, he fired six or seven shots from about 20 feet away. He said he hit the suspect in the leg and forehead. The robber then dropped the shotgun and bag of money, and fled the store. Police later arrested Dierre Cotton, 20, and Edyon Hibbler, 19, who were charged late Friday with the robbery and two other holdups on the city's northwest side.

According to the complaint, Cotton's gun wasn't loaded; he thought it would just scare cashiers into giving up money more quickly.

Over in 30 seconds

Al-Mujaahid estimated 30 seconds elapsed from the time he first noticed the robber to the time he shot him. He said he knew from his recent training that you need to breathe, keep a clear head, and "commit to a decision."

Al-Mujaahid said he works in Internet marketing. His Twitter profile describes him as, "Former Thug turned Successful Entrepreneur, Speaker, Internet Marketer, & Life Coach! Teaching How to Take Care & Take Charge!" A Muslim since about 1995, he is also active with Muslin Action Network, which helped set up Friday's news conference at Dera Grill, a Pakistani restaurant.

He said he's always been a gun-rights supporter and previously exercised his right to openly carry a firearm. When Wisconsin adopted a concealed carry law last year, he applied for his permit in November. He said he received it Jan. 17 or 18.

He said he did not notice the sign at Aldi prohibiting weapons in the store, and that if he had, he would have gone elsewhere.

He said since he began to carry a concealed gun, he does not patronize places with signs banning weapons.

Al-Mujaahid said he hopes the incident will deter criminals from using guns in areas where law-abiding people may defend themselves.

Al-Mujaahid said he'd never shot at a person before Monday, and he admitted to making some mistakes as a youth.

Court records show he was adjudicated as a juvenile of armed and masked robbery and was incarcerated.

But because the offense occurred before April 21, 1994, it did not prohibit him from getting a concealed carry permit.

Legal run-ins

He's had other run-ins with the law related to guns, but none led to convictions.

Charges of being a felon with a gun, furnishing a gun to a felon and pointing a gun at someone were all dismissed, records show.

He has successfully petitioned for the return of guns seized by police during other investigations, even writing extensive legal briefs to the Court of Appeals.

But his main work is promotion and consulting, he said.

At his news conference, Al-Mujaahid plugged his new website, ccwadvocates.com. It reads in part:

"Learn from Real People like you and me, normal Ordinary Citizens that have awaken the spirit of personal responsibility and freedom that this country was founded upon!

"Sign up to hear exclusively from the Man that stopped an Armed Robbery at a Milwaukee Aldi store. Many have called him a hero, we like to call him our brother!"